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Study on growth hormone and insulin secretion in myotonic dystrophy

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Abstract

Growth hormone (GH) levels were measured in 12 patients with myotonic dystrophy (MD; 7 men and 5 women, aged 21–49 years) and 14 volunteers after administration of 100 μg GH-releasing hormone (GHRH; 1–29). A 75-g oral glucose tolerance test was carried out to determine glucose, insulin, plasma C-peptide, and urinary C-peptide. The GH level in six MD patients responded normally to GHRH (group I), with a peak of 17.1 ± 1.46 μg/l, compared withcontrols (27.8 ± 19.6 μg/l, NS), and that in the other six patients responded subnormally, with a peak of 3.15 ± 1.46 μg/l, lower than in controls and in group I patients (P < 0.001). In group I the insulin response to the glucose tolerance test showed hyperinsulinism and was lower than that in group II patients; stimulated C-peptide was also higher in group II than in group I and in controls; urinary C-peptide levels were parallel to those in previous data. In all MD patients there were a negative correlation between absolute values of GH response to GHRH and insulin response to glucose tolerance test (r = - 0.79, P < 0.001). Our data suggest that the failure in GH release and peripheral insulin action is due to a generalized defect in cellular membrane function in MD patients.

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Abbreviations

BMI:

body mass index

GH:

Growth hormone

GHRH:

growth hormone releasing hormone

MD:

myotonic dystrophy

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Endocrine and Neurology Services, Hormonal Laboratory, Ciutat Sanitària i Universitària de Bellvitge, E-08028, Barcelona, Spain

    J. M. Gómez Sáez, J. M. Fernández Real, M. Fernández Castañer, M. A. Navarro Moreno, J. A. Martinez Matos & J. Soler Ramón

Authors
  1. J. M. Gómez Sáez
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  2. J. M. Fernández Real
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  3. M. Fernández Castañer
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  4. M. A. Navarro Moreno
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  5. J. A. Martinez Matos
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  6. J. Soler Ramón
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Correspondence to: J. M. Gomez Saez

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Gómez Sáez, J.M., Fernández Real, J.M., Fernández Castañer, M. et al. Study on growth hormone and insulin secretion in myotonic dystrophy. Clin Investig 72, 508–511 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00207479

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00207479

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